Russia’s top army medic held in corruption probe

MOSCOW: Senior Russian defence officials including the ministry’s top doctor have been detained in a corruption probe over a contract to supply medical equipment, the central investigative committee said Thursday.The men were detained Wednesday in a probe into the purchase of medical equipment, the investigative committee said in a statement. “During questioning, the suspects gave confessionary statements.Investigators named the men as the head of the ministry’s medical arm, Alexander Belevitin, who holds the rank of major-general, and the chief military medic in the Moscow region, Colonel Alexei Nikitin.At a preliminary hearing on Thursday, an investigator said the men were suspected of taking a bribe of 4.7 million rubles ($168,300) and of discussing killing the chief witness in the case, the Interfax news agency reported. An investigator told a hearing at a Moscow military tribunal that the men had been recorded as they discussed killing a witness, named only as Vilken, Interfax reported. – Nation